There are known several hinge devices equipped with springs to balance door weight and with a brake assigned to moderate the opening and closing speed.
U.S. Published Patent Application no. 2007/101542 A1 discloses a balanced hinge device with selective motion arrest for an electric household appliance.
One disadvantage of these known devices consists in that they typically provide a constant frictional braking element not easily controllable and/or programmable.
Another disadvantage of the known devices consists in that they are generally very complex and expensive.